


one breath (but there's two of us)

by intothenowhere



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, F/M, First Kiss, Love Confessions, POV Jemma Simmons, Self-Sacrifice
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-20
Updated: 2018-07-20
Packaged: 2019-06-13 07:56:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 527
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15359802
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/intothenowhere/pseuds/intothenowhere
Summary: An alternate take on the Pod Scene - Jemma has time to process her emotions, and acts on them.





	one breath (but there's two of us)

**Author's Note:**

> Blame @jemmasimmouns. I was merely an innocent bystander.  
> (Ily sis)

“Why? Why are you making me do this? You're my best friend  _ in the world. _ ”

 

“Because you're more than that, Jemma.”

 

Of all the things her stupid, brilliant,  _ heroic,  _ idiotic best friend could have said, those words were the last she ever expected.

 

Her breath hitched in her throat, tears welling and blurring her vision, as Fitz explained, but she only caught fragments ( _ didn't have the courage) _ \- she felt like she was free falling, careening toward a destination that would impact her future forever, and the only sound she could hear was the roaring of her heart, and Fitz's soft, weary voice - looking for all the world like he wanted nothing more than for that revelation to have drowned with him. 

 

_ Absolutely not, _ she thought with a fiery, almost savage determination. There was no way in hell Leopold James Fitz was going to die today, she couldn't -

 

She couldn't imagine her life without him.

 

_ No. _

 

She didn't  _ want  _ to imagine her life without him - even now, with their future so uncertain, when she thought of her future, she thought of she and Fitz in a small cottage in Perthshire, like the one she saw on holiday with her parents. And it felt  _ right.  _ Like every step they’d taken now, every step they'd take after this, would lead them there.

 

Jemma shook her head, tears slipping freely. “No, no, no,  _ no -” _ she surged forward, peppering kisses all over him, wherever she could reach, ignored his protests that it was  _ okay _ , but it wasn't okay, there was no version of reality where it was okay that he wouldn't  _ be here -  _

 

“Hey, Jemma -” his voice was but a tired breath as she pulled away, his smile wavering - his hand moved abruptly, toward the switch, but Jemma caught it -

 

And surged forward again, this time capturing his lips with her own.

 

Fitz froze, his good arm flailing in mid air, eyes wide, before pulling away from her abruptly: “Jemma - you don't need to do this for...for my sake, I don't care that you think of me as a friend. I'd rather...I'd rather you love me as a friend than not love me at all.”

 

Jemma reached out, brushed her hand across his cheek, as she shoved the mask back into his hands. His eyes were the deepest shade of blue, and he watched her with such utter raw reverence that her heart seized with all the adoration she had for him, and she leaned forward, slower this time, and captured her lips with his.

 

This time, Fitz didn't freeze - he kissed her back feveredly. 

 

She poured everything into it, trying to convey everything she couldn't yet say.

 

Their lips met, pushed and pulled, their breathes mingling into one breath.

 

A heartbeat later they parted.

 

Fitz smiled at her, wavering, apologetic.

 

She noticed the mask now back in her hand - he’d slipped it back during their kiss - and looked back up.

 

One heartbeat.

 

Two heartbeats.

 

He slammed his hand down on the button -

 

A scream ripped through her throat, raw, feral, and terrified, before the world went dark as water rushed in.

 

One breath.

 

(And he gave it to her).

 


End file.
